


Sweet William

by timeandteacups



Category: Hannibal (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Basically Hannibal is Snape and Will is Lily, But they're even more adorable, Cute, Fluff, Friendship, Holding Hands, Kid Hannibal, Kid Will Graham
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 08:01:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9647297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeandteacups/pseuds/timeandteacups
Summary: From behind a clump of bushes Hannibal watches a boy who sits alone playing with flowers and magic almost every afternoon. One day, Hannibal decides to talk to him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Another HP AU, now I don't think I'll ever want to stop.  
> Now for the sake of the fic let's all pretend that Will and Hannibal are from the UK so they can go to Hogwarts okay? Okay. xD  
> This is just silly fluff with a lot of dialogue. It's been a while I've been wanting to recreate Snape and Lily's story before they went to Hogwarts, because I love them, and I love Hannigram. So, here it is.

Hannibal hid behind a clump of bushes, breathing as quietly as he could, watching the boy who was sitting alone on the grass just a few meters away and still hadn’t noticed him. The boy had his blue eyes fixed on a flower in his hand - a _Dianthus barbatus_ , Hannibal noted - its petals opening and closing slowly as the boy's curly hair moved softly with the wind.

This wasn’t the first time Hannibal watched him. In fact, he’d been doing it almost every day, always in silence, doing his best not to be noticed as he tried to find out if the boy really was what Hannibal thought he was. Now there was no doubt anymore.

Hannibal decided it was finally time to approach him.

“Hello,” he said, standing up and moving closer as the boy turned his head to look at him. As he saw Hannibal approaching, he quickly put the flower down, trying to hide it.

“H-how…” the boy began, struggling with his words. “How long have you been there?”

“A while,” Hannibal replied, now standing next to the boy. “May I sit with you?”

“Yes,” the boy said after a moment of hesitation.

“I’m Hannibal Lecter,” Hannibal said then, as he sat down. “What is your name?”

“Will Graham.” The boy’s voice was low. “Have you been… watching me?”

“Yes. I saw what you did with the flower,” Hannibal answered, his eyes meeting Will’s as Will looked back at him. Hannibal smiled. “I think you’re going to be a great wizard.”

“A... wizard?” Will repeated Hannibal’s words slowly, and Hannibal thought that his confused expression was adorable.

“Yes!” Hannibal answered excitedly. If Will didn’t know about magic yet, Hannibal would be happy to show him. “It’s what we are. You and I. May I borrow your flower?” he asked, holding out his hand. Will placed the flower in Hannibal’s palm, his fingertips brushing against the other boy’s skin softly.

“Thank you,” Hannibal said. “Watch this.” He watched it as it lifted from his hand and stayed in the air right in front of Hannibal’s face, and it didn’t fall even as the boy lowered his hand again. Hannibal and Will smiled at each other.

“So… You’re a wizard too,” Will said quietly after a moment, reaching for the flower to hold it in his hand again. Hannibal wondered if Will was going to keep it. 

“Yes. My entire family is. I assume yours isn’t.”

“No,” Will said, looking down at the flower in his hand. They remained quiet for a moment before Will spoke again. 

“What does this really mean, Hannibal?” he asked. “Being a… wizard?”

“It means that when we’re eleven years old, we’re going to Hogwarts. It’s the best school of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the world. They teach us spells, and how to control magic.”

Will’s smile was the most beautiful thing Hannibal had ever seen. 

“And how do you-” Will started.

“Will!” They heard a voice coming from behind them. “Come home.”

“It’s my dad,” Will said apologetically as he stood up. “I have to go.”

“Will you meet me again tomorrow?” Hannibal asked, hopeful. He had liked Will. “Here?”

“I'll be here,” Will said with a bright smile and turned around, walking fast towards his father, the flower still secure in his hand.

Hannibal made sure to grab one for himself on his way home. 

******

“So how do you go to Hogwarts?” Will asked on a sunny afternoon, while they were lying next to each other under a tree. The boys had gotten used to spending their summer afternoons together.

“We go by train,” Hannibal said, turning his head to look at Will, the boy’s eyes as blue as the sky above. “Usually, you get a letter when you’re eleven. But since you’re a muggle-born, someone will come to your house to explain it to your father.”

“Oh. And does it make a difference, being muggle-born?” Will asked, and it was clear that the thought had been worrying him.

Hannibal hesitated for a second. “No. It doesn’t make any difference.”

“Good,” Will said in a whisper, sighing happily and looking up at the sky and the leaves above them. Hannibal couldn’t take his eyes off him. Suddenly, Will turned to Hannibal again, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

“This… Everything you told me,” he began carefully. “It’s all true, right, Hanni? You’re not just… making it up?”

“Why do you think I’m lying to you?”

“Some kids at school…” Will said, lowering his eyes. “The called me a freak… when they saw what I could do. Magic. That’s why I never showed it to anybody else. I don’t… I don’t have any friends.”

Hannibal wondered if that was why Will thought he was lying. Maybe Will thought that Hannibal wanted to make fun of him. Hannibal thought that the muggles at Will’s school were missing out for not wanting to be Will’s friends. Somewhere deep inside his mind, he decided that one day he would follow Will to the muggle school and use magic to hurt every single kid who called Will names or made him feel bad.

“You have me,” Hannibal told him and placed his hand on top of Will’s. Will flinched with the sudden contact, but then relaxed visibly again. “I’m your friend now,” Hannibal continued. “And we’re going to Hogwarts together. You better be in Slytherin with me.”

“You told me it’s the Sorting Hat that decides which house we’ll be sorted into,” Will noted, remembering his friend’s words clearly.

“That’s true,” Hannibal agreed, “but my entire family was in Slytherin. I’m sure I will be, too.”

“Your parents?” Will asked curiously.

Hannibal took a breath before answering.

“My parents were in Slytherin, yes,” he finally said. “They died two years ago. My little sister too.”

“How did they die?” Will’s voice was very quiet now, and he shifted, moving closer. He turned his hand so his palm would touch Hannibal’s. Somehow, it felt comfortable. Natural.

“They were murdered by two other wizards, who used dark magic,” Hannibal replied, just as quietly. He had never told this to anyone. He didn’t have friends either. “I live with my uncle and aunt now.”

“I’m sorry,” Will whispered. “About your parents.”

“It’s alright,” Hannibal said. It didn’t feel alright, and he always felt sad when he thought about Mischa, but he had decided that after he graduated from Hogwarts he would find the wizards who killed his family and have his revenge. Now that he had Will, though, he didn’t feel so alone anymore. 

“I have you, Will.” Hannibal smiled softly. “And you’re my only friend too,” he admitted.

“So you’re as alone as I am,” Will said, smiling back at Hannibal. “And I want to be in Slytherin with you, Hanni.” He slid his fingers between Hannibal’s, and they fit perfectly. “Then we won’t have to be alone anymore.”

Hannibal remembered his father telling him that muggle-borns never got sorted into Slytherin. He didn’t know if it was true, but decided not to mention it. Instead, he squeezed Will’s hand softly, realizing that as much as he wanted to be in Slytherin, it would be better to just be in whatever house the Sorting Hat decided to put Will.

“So we’ll always be together,” Hannibal agreed.

“Even if we get sorted into different houses?” Will asked with a bit of uncertainty, staring into Hannibal’s eyes, looking for reassurance.

Hannibal smiled. He couldn’t imagine himself not wanting to be with Will. 

“Yes, Will," he promised. "Even then.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I want to thank [broken-desires](http://broken-desires.tumblr.com) for suggesting the title to me - Dianthus barbatus is the [Sweet William](http://www.aphotoflora.com/images/caryophyllaceae/dianthus_barbatus_sweet_william_flowers_18-06-04_2.jpg), and I thought this was very cute. 
> 
> Come find me on tumblr, [cannibalcuisine](http://cannibalcuisine.tumblr.com/).


End file.
